It’s finally race week over here! All that’s left is a short shakeout tomorrow morning before we hit the road for Syracuse!

We’ve been stalking the weather all week and this is where we’re at so far:

It’s not so much the temperature that bothers me…it’s the temperature plus strong winds. I’ve had my fingers crossed all week that it was going to improve, but it’s only gotten worse as the days have gone on.

While this isn’t ideal were trying not to stress too much about it and adjusting as necessary. We’re packing lots of layers so we can make a day of decision for clothing.

Women’s running published an article written by Courtney from Eat, Pray, Run DC about racing in rough conditions and it came at the perfect time! I’m definitely adopting the “why not me” attitude for the weekend!

Here’s five of our goals going into the weekend:

1. Jen: I’ve mentioned before that I have a big (for me) goal for this race. The plan is to shoot for 2:30 giving me an almost 16 minute PR. There’s an A and B plan in place, so even with the weather I’m hoping to still be able to hit the goal!

2. Focus on what we can control: Obviously the forecast is way beyond control so we are choosing to put our attention on things like hydrating, eating well and stretching so that we’re as ready as can be come Sunday morning.

3. Travis: Based on the weather, the course profile and how I’ve felt during this training cycle, I don’t think that a PR (I would need to run a sub 1:28:38) is in the cards for this race. Instead I think that a good goal for Syracuse is to go for a course record. My current record for the course is a 1:37:19. The final 2 miles of the course have been altered slightly but it won’t have any effect on the profile in terms of elevation.

4. Remain Positive: At this point all of the work has been put in and the race is just the celebration!

5. Have fun: It’s not often that we both get to run the same race so we want to make the most of it! Syracuse is a race that we both really enjoy and the race directors work extremely hard to put on an awesome event each year so we’re going to do our best to enjoy all of the aspects of the weekend.

Be prepared to alter your expectations, and be ok with it, if it’s windy. I can’t decide what to wear! Worst day of the week weather wise, go figure… Good luck to you both. My wife will be running @ the same pace as Jen. I’ll be trailing Travis by a min/mile…